One of the primary annoyances with cooking is the cleaning of the cooking articles. As food cooks it has a tendency to adhere to the cooking surface. The reason for this is that the surface itself is not smooth on a microscopic level. Hence, the heating of the food causes food particles to bake onto the rough areas on the cooking surface.
To prevent food from adhering, a layer of liquid is generally added during the cooking process. This liquid is usually an oil, lard, or butter which has low friction and not prone to sticking to the cooking surface.
However, cooking fats, oils, and butter begin to scorch and smoke at about 392° F. (200° C.), and also begin to evaporate during the cooking process or absorb into the food. Since meat is usually cooked at temperatures between 400-450° F. (200-230° C.), the result is that the fats or oils eventually evaporate leaving the food once again in direct contact with the cooking surface. As such, even when cooking fats and oils are used, the food eventually sticks to the cooking surface.
Another drawback of cooking oil and grease is that they do not prevent sticking unless they are heated. Oil naturally has impurities, such as water. The applicant has determined that, when heated, the water in the oil rises to the surface of the oil. This creates a barrier layer between the food and the oil. It is this barrier layer of water that prevents the sticking to the pan. Many cook books describe the heating of the oil until it shimmers. The shimmering is the barrier layer of water on top of the oil.
One of the biggest advances over the last several decades in food preparation has been the development of what has been called “non-stick” coatings. The most well known of these is polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) sold under the trademark Teflon® by the DuPont company. The vast majority of cooking surfaces are coated with Teflon or similar non-stick coatings. Teflon® material itself is chemically inert and non-toxic. Teflon® material has a coefficient of friction of about 0.1 or less which is the lowest of any known solid material. Thus, Teflon® material provides a very efficient non-stick surface.
However, at least one report states that Teflon begins to deteriorate after the temperature of cookware reaches about 460° F. (237° C.), and begins to significantly deteriorate when the temperature of the cookware reaches about 680° F. (350° C.). See, definition of Teflon found at Wikipedia.org. Since the material can degrade at higher temperatures, there are heat constraints which might negatively affect cooking requirements.
Also, some recent reports have identified some health concerns with the use of PTFE material. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teflon. Further Teflon material tends to be a relatively fragile material, thus requiring protective handling to prevent scratching. As such, there is a need to find a replacement technology for providing a non-stick cooking surface.